The Russellville Lady Cyclones head basketball coach Steve Wiedower has seen his share of ups and downs over the years. Last year, he led the Lady Cyclones to the 6A state-finals, where they were defeated by Little Rock Parkview.

But Wiedower has only been coaching at Russellville for four years. Before that, he spent seven years at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, eight years at Greenbrier High School and one year at Morrilton.

Wiedower said the ups and downs didn’t faze him much. Not anymore.

“Of course, no one likes to lose,” he said. “But after coaching 20 years, I’ve had teams that didn’t have winning records or win many games. But I’ve also had teams that have won many games.”

There’s a lot more that goes into coaching a basketball team than the sport itself. Wiedower said that it’s important to remember that no matter if the team is winning or losing, it’s the kids that are important. Not the scoreboard. Not the record at the end of the season.

“It’s not fun losing,” he said. “But I remember I’ve enjoyed some of those kids from those losing teams just as much as any other kids I’ve had in the past. As long as they work hard, that’s really all you can ask. There’s definitely more to it than just winning basketball games.”

Wiedower has seen the Lady Cyclones ride to nearly the pinnacle of success leading the team to a state-runner up trophy last year — but he has also seen them struggle. This year, the Lady Cyclones have yet to win a game.

“I knew coming in that this year was going to be a tough year and that we’d have a rebuilding year,” he said. “But sometimes you learn more from losing than you do winning.”

Wiedower draws on the experiences he had playing athletics growing up for inspiration in coaching. He said that the guidance he received played a major role in his decision to become a coach.

“The biggest reason I became a coach is probably because some of my coaches in high school and college — I was just very impressed with what they did for me. I just felt like that was something that I might want to do.

“I remember being back in college and being pushed so hard I thought it was too much. But once you get through it you realize you can do it. You can apply that to areas of life besides basketball. Plus, the encouragement the coaches gave me to help me get through those tough times. When things go good it makes you feel like you can accomplish something. It gives you confidence. You think the coaches are mean and tough on you sometimes, but after the fact you realize they were doing you a favor and making you a better person.”

Wiedower spends most of his free time with his family. It was one of the main reason’s he left UALR to coach at Russellville.

“I enjoy spending time with my family,” he explained. “I’ve got two daughters and my wife. One of the reasons I left UALR was just to get to spend more time with them.

We have a lake house up at Greer’s Ferry Lake. We spend a lot of time up there enjoying the lake. I try to get out in the outdoors as much as I can.”

While he doesn’t have any regrets about his decision to become a coach, he admitted that he considers how his life might have turned out if he had ventured down another path.

“I think [it’s] just human nature to look back,” he said. “Sometimes you think maybe if I’d done this or that — I was good at math back then, for example, but I never really studied it. Now you look around at the things and all the technology and I think I could have made more money maybe if I’d done more with math. But I don’t have any regrets, really. I look around and see that I have a healthy family and everything is going well. That’s all that really matters.”